CAMDEN, N.J. - A Camden, New Jersey, man today admitted his role in a crack cocaine distribution conspiracy, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.
Tony Wilson, a/k/a “Tony Langston,” a/k/a “Tone,” and a/k/a “H,” 25, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Jerome B. Simandle in Camden federal court to an information charging him with one count of conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute cocaine base and one count of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
Wilson admitted that he was a member of an organization which sold crack cocaine in and around the 1100 block of Lansdowne Avenue in Camden. Wilson also admitted that he possessed a .40 caliber handgun in connection with the organization’s drug trafficking activities.
Wilson, Jason Boyd, Joseph Boyd, Preston Thomas, Derek Stallworth, Jeffrey Whitaker, Nafeez Griffin, and Julian Dickerson were originally charged by complaint on Sept. 9, 2016, following a long-term investigation by the FBI’s South Jersey Violent Offender and Gang Task Force. Law enforcement officers seized drugs and recovered two handguns that were kept by members of the conspiracy in connection with the organization’s drug trafficking activities. Investigators also intercepted communications pursuant to court-authorized wiretaps on cellular telephones used by several members of the conspiracy.
Two other charged conspirators have also pleaded guilty to drug conspiracy and firearm offenses.
On Jan. 17, 2017, Jason Boyd, 36, a/k/a “Teddy,” a/k/a “Teddy Reek,” and a/k/a “Fatboy,” pleaded guilty before Judge Simandle in Camden federal court to an information charging him with one count of conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute cocaine base and one count of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. Boyd’s sentencing is scheduled for April 28, 2017.
On Dec. 8, 2016, Derek Stallworth, 20, a/k/a “AK” and a/k/a “A,” of Camden, also pleaded guilty before Judge Simandle to the same charges. Stallworth’s sentencing is scheduled for March 24, 2017.
On Feb. 8, 2017, a federal grand jury also charged Preston J. Thomas, 30, a/k/a “Boo,” of Camden, in a superseding indictment with one count of conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute cocaine base and one count of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. In addition, the superseding indictment charged Jeffrey Whitaker, 33, a/k/a “Jay,” a/k/a “Jay Black,” and a/k/a “Black,” of Collingswood, with the same drug trafficking conspiracy offense.
Charges against Joseph Boyd, Nafeez Griffin, Julian Dickerson, Jeffrey Whitaker, and Preston Thomas remain pending.
The drug distribution conspiracy charges carry a maximum potential penalty of 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine. The firearms charges carry a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison to be served consecutively to the conspiracy charges. Sentencing is scheduled for June 16, 2017.
U.S. Attorney Fishman credited special agents of the FBI’s South Jersey Violent Offender and Gang Task Force, South Jersey Resident Agency, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Michael Harpster; the Camden County Police Department, under the direction of Chief J. Scott Thomson; the Camden County Prosecutor’s Office, under the direction of Prosecutor Mary Eva Colalillo; and the N.J. State Police, under the direction of Col. Rick Fuentes, with the investigation leading to today’s guilty plea.
He also thanked the Camden County Sheriff’s Department, the Cherry Hill Police Department, and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) for their assistance.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Gabriel J. Vidoni of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Criminal Division in Camden.
The charges and allegations contained in the above-referenced complaints and indictment are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.